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I woke up this morning, went through the routine of fussing at my daughter for turning on all the lights in the house, managed to get out on time and meet my usual carpool duty and returned home and with my usual excitement proceeded to log into my computer to start my day.

I switched on my laptop and logged into Twitter at approximately 7:40 a.m., normally the first networking site I sign in (to see what the latest news is in relation to all the current events, out with the old and in with the new President, the celebration participation around the world and to get marketing tips), the login went through on the first time because usually I make at least 2 attempts to sign in, however the sign in went well on the first attempt and all is good. Now I’ve been on Twitter for at least six months, and to my surprise there’s a message on the heading of my profile that reads, “This account is currently suspended and is being investigated due to strange activity. If we have suspended your account mistakenly, please let us know. See Suspended Accounts for more information,” in red at that, what’s that about?

My first emotion was that I felt I’d been kicked out of an exclusive “invitation only” club of A listersand I’m now an outside. In the past six months I’d acquired over 200 followers (great since, I prefer quality followers over quantity).

I read the list of reasons for suspension and since I didn’t feel I met the criteria, I forwarded a request to the powers that be, for a suspension since the feeling of being removed from this network was bothering me.

I’ve been networking on social networks for about 1.5 years now and I have a clear understanding of the value of making your presence known online and the value of building relationships and what these relationships can offer you professional and personally. I’m at the end of my day now and to my surprise and I feel a certain freedom.

The suspension appears to been for the best mainly because in the past six months I haven’t accomplished any of my marketing goals, (which include making solid business contacts, making friends which should lead to constructive business growth), I’m not saying it’s due to Twitter but that it may not be the best platform for me to reach my goals.

Is there a timeframe to consider that determines when your participation in a network has run its course? I would think six months should be a good point to consider cutting my losses if not sooner.

I realized a valuable lesson about networking and that is to evaluate the network within at least six months to determine if there’s been measurable growth in any of my goals and decide if the substance I value as my contribution to the network being valued or appreciated?

Once I asked myself those questions, unavoidably for me the, answer is no. I once asked a question; do all roads lead to Twitter? Albeit this is an answer based on your goals and results, for me the answer is no, it does not.